


The Ballad Of Remus And Sirius

by marileal



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Marauders, Modern Marauders (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-07-11 09:45:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15969788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marileal/pseuds/marileal
Summary: Sirius is a failing student who really needs help to pass one of his college classes. Remus so happens to be a tutor for that class.AKA: The college AU





	1. Hello Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> hello there, this is my first wolfstar fic so i don't know if i'm very good at this yet.  
> i've been reading stories about this couple for a few years now but i always thought  
> i wasn't talented enough to write about them. buuuut, i just really wanted to put this  
> story out there, so, here it is.  
> also, english is my second language and i live in the US so i won't even try to  
> make this british because i feel like it would just be terrible. i know, it makes me sad too,  
> i'm sorry :(  
> but anyway, i hope you enjoy this little story <3

Remus Lupin isn’t exactly a very extroverted person. Which means, he’s not ecstatic about the fact that he’s the new Global Education tutor. He’s not new to the job, he tutored a handful of kids in high school, but that doesn’t mean the boy is any less anxious.

His professor approached him at the end of last term and asked him if he would consider being a tutor for his subject, seeing that he got the best grade in the whole class. Now, you’ve got to understand that Remus Lupin has a hard time saying ‘no’ to people. In his mind, he’s just going to upset that person, and Remus does not deal well with confrontation. So naturally, he agreed.

The blond boy just finished moving in to his new living quarters. He’s a proud tenant of a one bedroom apartment just a couple blocks away from campus. The place is mostly filled with books everywhere, but Remus likes it that way.

His first student agreed to meet up with him at a café not too far away from the school. Remus decided to walk and enjoy the nice weather. He still has a grey sweater on though, just in case it gets too windy on the way there.

The café is not too crowded, which makes the blond boy happy. Dealing with large numbers of people makes him a little stressed sometimes. He looks around in search of a good spot to sit at and decides to go for a table near a window. He places his book bag on the floor and gets his phone out.

Remus doesn’t really know how he’s going to recognize this kid. The only thing he knows is that the guy’s name is Sirius Black, which sounds a bit funny, but who is he to judge with a name like Remus Lupin. In any case, he’s hoping this dude happens to know what he looks like.

His phone is telling him that it’s currently 3:10pm, which means that his student is 10 minutes late. Remus is trying very hard not to judge the guy already. He is seriously thinking about complaining to Lily about it over text.

“Remus Lupin?”

A voice asks from somewhere on his left. He looks over his shoulder in search of the owner of the voice. A boy with shoulder length dark hair, a black leather jacket, and black boots is standing next to his table. Remus gets up in order to greet him.

“Yes. Are you Sirius?” He tries to ask in a cheerful tone.

“The one and only.”

Remus smiles at the guy and offers him a hand. The dark haired boy shakes it for a second, then proceeds to sit down on the opposite chair. Remus notices he seems annoyed. Sirius smells like cigarettes, which makes him nervous. He checks the front pocket of his bag and makes sure his inhaler is in there. Cigarettes can easily trigger an asthma attack and no one is looking forward to that.

“Is there anything in specific that you would like me to go over with you?”

Remus asks, grabbing the Global Education textbook he brought along. Sirius runs a hand through his hair and Remus could’ve sworn he saw the boy roll his eyes.

“Oh I don’t know. Maybe just everything that stupid professor has ever taught in that stupid class.”

Sirius stares at him with a defiant expression. Remus blinks his eyes a few times, taken back by the boy’s sudden reaction.

“Ok, you’re not a fan of the subject then…” He says, avoiding the boy’s eyes.

Sirius lets out an ironic laugh.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

Remus continues to ignore Sirius eyes and proceeds to open the book in front of him.

“I’ll just start from the very beginning then.” The blond boy says, mostly to himself.

He takes Sirius lack of response as an agreement. Remus then begins to talk about the very first chapter in the book. Seeing that classes started only a few weeks ago, he can’t imagined the professor is too far ahead.

Sirius still seems annoyed, but ends up reaching for a notebook and actually taking some notes, which surprises the blond boy in a good way. Remus tries to brush off the fact that his student seems to be in such a bad mood and continues to explain everything patiently.

When they reach the end of the first chapter, Remus starts to think that maybe Sirius won’t be that hard to handle. He’s just moody and hates the subject, Remus can deal with that. But as the boy begins to explain the subject further, Sirius seems to get more and more upset.

It starts with sighs whenever Remus is done explaining something. Then he added the eye rolling and Remus began to get annoyed.

“Look, no one is forcing you to be here dude.”

Remus says, closing the book in front of them. Sirius lets out an ironic laugh and stares at him for a couple of seconds. Remus breaks eye contact and looks down.

“Except they are. I failed the first test, the college requires me to see a tutor.”

Remus didn’t know that. Sirius runs a hand through his ridiculously handsome hair and rests his arm on the table.

“Well, I’m sorry you seem to hate that so much. But I mean, they’re literally just trying to help you.”

Remus says, frowning his eyebrows and getting even more annoyed. What is wrong with this guy anyway? Remus is just trying to do his job.

“Yeah whatever, I can’t learn this stupid subject anyway.” Sirius rolls his eyes and proceeds to put his notebook back in his backpack.

“Wait, where are you going?”

Remus asks, sounding confused and a bit irritated.

“Look, we’re just wasting our time here. I’m clearly not going to improve. So, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna go home.”

Sirius closes the backpack and holds it in one of his hands. Remus is even more confused now. He gets up and stands in front of the dark haired boy, trying to stop him from walking away.

“Sirius, I can help you! That’s is literally why I’m here!”

The blond boy throws his hands up in frustration. He notices he’s a bit too close to Sirius for his liking and decides to take a step back. Sirius moves his head slightly up in order to look Remus in the eye but doesn’t say anything for at least 5 whole seconds. Which is more than enough time to Remus to pay attention to the other boy’s face.

Remus didn’t really _look_ at Sirius until right now. He didn’t realize how ridiculously handsome this guy is. His hair is perfectly wavy, his eyes are a beautiful shade of grey, even his stupid leather jacket was pretty. Remus suddenly feels overwhelmed and places his gaze on the floor.

Sirius lets out a loud breath.

“Look, I just don’t see how someone like you can help me.”

Remus frowns his eyebrows.

“What the hell is that suppose to mean?”

Sirius rolls his eyes.

“You’re obviously a perfect student Remus Lupin, you never had to deal with something like this before. I don’t see how you could help me.”

The blond boy tries ignore the fact that his heart beat a bit faster when Sirius said his name.

“Well, _Sirius Black_ , I guess we’ll never know will we? You won’t even let me try!”

“Dude, this is not going to work. Besides, don’t you rather be somewhere else? Like the library or something.”

Sirius asks in a joking tone. Remus crosses his arm.

“What’s wrong with the library? I work there.”

Remus replies sounding annoyed. Sirius lets out a chuckle and looks up at the blond boy.

“Of course you do.”

Sirius then walks away from the table. Leaving an extremely confused Remus behind. What the hell just happened here?

 

* * *

“Tell me all about it! How was your first tutoring session?”

An excited Lily Evans asks, while coming in Remus’ apartment with an ice cream container in her hands. The boy locks the door behind her and proceeds to throw himself on the couch.

“It sucked! I just happened to get the worst student in the whole entire universe Lily. Like literally the worst!”

Remus replied with his face on a pillow.

“Oh dear. What happened?”

Lily asks. Her face looking considerably less happy now. She walks to the kitchen to get two spoons and comes back to the couch. She pokes Remus’ leg with one of the spoons.

“It’s chocolate flavored.” The girl tells him, knowing it will get him to sit up.

Remus explains the events that happened this afternoon while eating the ice cream with his friend. When he’s done, Lily looks shocked.

“What the hell? Who even acts like this?”

She looks irritated.

“My point exactly! I mean, he _is_ ridiculously hot and I guess it would be nice to have to look at his face twice a week. But, I’m glad I won’t have to deal with that anymore.”

Lily’s eyes widen and she grins at him.

“Remus!” She slaps his arm. “You didn’t say he’s hot!”

“Ow! Does that matter? I won’t see him anymore remember?”

The redhead rolls her eyes.

“Of course that matters Remus. I mean he’s a jerk but at least he’s a jerk with a nice face. Not that it makes it any better. It just sucks a little less for you.”

Remus laughs at her ridiculous logic and frowns his eyebrows.

“What is that suppose to mean?”

Lily smiles at him.

“Well, at least you got to look at his handsome face for a whole hour.”

She chuckles and puts a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth. Remus pushes on her shoulders lightly and takes the ice cream from her hands.

When they are done eating, Lily decides she wants to watch a silly romcom that just came out on Netflix and Remus goes along with it. Mostly because the main guy is really cute.

Halfway through the movie Remus hears his phone make a notification noise from somewhere in his room.

“Can you pause for a second?”

The boy asks and starts to walk to his bedroom. He looks at his phone and lets out a loud sigh when he reads the text he just received.

“Ugh, Jesus…”

“What is it?” Lily asks from the TV room.

Remus walks back and hands her the phone, where she can read:

 

**Unidentified**

_Hey Remus, I understand I was an absolutely asshole_ _earlier_ **_._ ** _I had a really shitty morning and I guess that_ _doesn’t justified it so I just wanna say I’m sorry. And_ _also, would you please consider continuing to tutor_ _me? I really need your help and I promise I won’t act_ _like a dick again._

 

 _This is Sirius Black by the way, just in case you had more_ _than one shitty student this morning._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah that’s how the story begins!  
> please leave a comment if you enjoy  
> this at all, i’d love to know what you  
> think so far :)  
> i’ll be back soon with more!


	2. Don't Let Me Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius tries to convince Remus that helping him is a good idea.

Remus didn’t know how to respond to Sirius’ text. So he didn’t. He didn’t want to say ‘no’ because, as we established earlier, he has a bit of a problem with that. But he also didn’t know if he wanted to continue to deal with the boy. I mean, Sirius said he wasn’t gonna be a dick anymore but, who knows if it’s actually true?

Although Remus would love to just ignore the text forever and move on with his life, he knew he would end up feeling guilty. So, he told himself he would reply on the next day, or whenever guilt decides to show up in his mind. Lily seems to think Sirius deserves a second chance, but the redhead is too nice to everyone all the time. Remus didn’t want to take her advice right away.

On the following morning, the blond boy tried to place the ‘Sirius Issue’, as he liked to call it, on the back of his brain and continue with his routine. He attended his classes in the morning, ran home to grab some lunch, and started to walk towards the library for the 2pm shift.

When he arrived, a blond head popped from behind the counter. The girl looked stressed and relieved to see Remus.

“Oh thank God!”

She throws her arms around his shoulders. Remus chuckles and hugs her back.

“Hello to you too Marlene.”

He smiles and pops up a small opening in order to get behind the counter.

“What happened?” Remus asks curiously, placing his backpack on the floor.

Marlene lets out a loud breath and proceeds to log out of the computer in front of them.

“They had a book reading for the second graders.” She stops typing and looks up at Remus. “Cute right? Except not!”

She rolls her eyes and seems very irritated. Remus tries to hold back a smile unsuccessfully.

“Laugh all you want! You didn’t have to deal with all those kids running around, messing with all the books, leaving cookie crumbles everywhere.” Marlene pauses and stares at Remus. “And I mean _everywhere_ Remus. It was a nightmare!”

Remus laughs openly now. Marlene places her cellphone in the front pocket of her backpack. She seems more than ready to leave.

“Oh man those second graders. They shouldn’t be allowed outside if you ask me.”

The blond boy frowns his eyebrows and pretends to look upset. Marlene holds back a chuckle.

“Whatever. I’m out of here!” She smiles.

“Enjoy the rest of your day away from second graders Mar.” Remus teases her with a grin.

The girl rolls her eyes once again.

“Oh you bet I will!”

She pops the little opening on the counter and begins to walk away. Remus decides to log in to his account on the computer in front of him. When he’s done, he is surprised to see Marlene walking back in his direction.

“Did you forget something?”

He looks around to see if her phone or wallet are laying around somewhere. The girl declines with her head.

“No, I just forgot to tell you something. This punk looking guy came looking for you earlier. He had a silly sounding name but I can’t really remember it. I think it starts with an S.”

Remus’ stomach decided to do back flips.

“Sirius?” He asks cautiously.

“Yes! Sirius, that’s it! He said he would stop by later, so, that’s me giving you a heads up.”

“Thank you.”

The blond boy gives her a fake smile.

“Alright, text me if you and Lily want to do anything later!” Marlene says while walking out the door.

Remus didn’t know what to think for a whole minute. The guy has been to his work? He must really want Remus to be his tutor. Once that thought settled in, the boy began to feel guilty. He should’ve responded to Sirius’ text last night. What was he thinking? Not responding just because the dude was rude earlier? Everyone has bad days, Remus certainly has had a handful of bad days before. Besides, he already apologized!

“Young man, could you please help me find the culinary books?” Said a very short old lady standing on the other side of the counter, bringing Remus back to the present moment. He smiled at her and proceeded to walk towards the books she was looking for.

The next couple of hours were quite busy for the boy. He had to rearrange a few books, help people return titles they had previously borrowed, and even finish cleaning the area where the kids had their reading session. Which to his surprise, was still pretty messy, even though Marlene had already cleaned most of it.

Remus managed to not think about his Sirius Issue for quite a few hours. A few worry free hours. But, things changed quickly at around 5pm when he was putting some books back on their shelves. He saw a glimpse of a now familiar boy with dark hair. The boy seemed to be looking for something, or someone.

Remus first instinct was to open a book and hold it in front of his face. That didn’t work for long. The blond boy heard footsteps coming in his direction.

“Lupin?” Sirius asked, getting closer.

Remus took a deep breath, put down the book and faked a smile.

“Yes?”

Sirius grinned at him.

“Were you trying to hide from me?”

Remus could feel his face getting warm.

“Are you stalking me?” Was the first response that came his mind.

Sirius smiled openly now. Remus noticed the boy wasn’t wearing his leather jacket today, but he looked just as handsome. Not that Remus is paying attention, because he definitely isn’t.

“Well I had to. You never replied to my text.” The dark haired boy said as a matter of factly.

Remus suddenly felt very, very guilty. He avoided Sirius eyes.

“About that… I was going to…. I just—”

“Oh I wouldn’t have replied either! I was a dick yesterday, I completely understand the silent treatment. Which is why I’m here in person.”

Sirius was now leaning on a shelf and crossing his arms in front of Remus. The dude looked like he had just walked out of a magazine. Remus brought his gaze down to the books in his hand in order to maintain focus.  

“So I gotta ask one more time. Would you please continue to be my tutor?”

Remus didn’t know what to say. Truth is, he didn’t want to be Sirius tutor. But he also didn’t want to say ‘no’ to him.

“Well, maybe we can talk to your professor and he can, perhaps, find you someone else. Someone who could help you more than I can. You said it yourself, you don’t think I could—”

Sirius let out a loud breath through his nose, making Remus stop talking.

“Look, I didn’t mean any of that ok? If you’re a tutor that means you got an awesome grade at this class. And you seemed more than capable of teaching me.”

Sirius said slowly. It was his turn to avoid eye contact. Remus didn’t think he could stare at the boy’s sad face any longer so he responded quickly.

“Ok, I’ll do it.”

“Oh come on, please. I promise I’ll…” Sirius interrupted his speech and gave Remus a surprised look. “Wait, did you just say yes?” He smiled.

Remus tried to hold back a chuckle.

“Yes, I’ll help you. Now can you get out of my library please? I’m trying to work here.”

He half jokes and continues to place a few books on the shelf. Sirius raises his eyebrows and his smile widens.

“ _Your_ library, is it? When did you buy the place?”

Remus rolls his eyes.

“I can still change my mind you know.”

The dark haired boy puts both his hands up as if to say he means no harm.

“Alright, I’ll be out of your hair. I’ll see you on Wednesday at 2pm?”

Remus nods. “Yep.”

“See ya Remus.”

Sirius grins at him and begins to walk towards the front door.

“Bye Black.”

 

* * *

When Remus got home from work that night, he was a bit confused. The Sirius Black who talked to him that afternoon was nice, polite, and even funny. He didn’t seem at all like the boy he dealt with on Monday. Maybe it _was_ just because he had a shitty morning. Remus was willing to give the boy a second chance. Besides, he would feel terrible if he just refused.

The following day was a bit nerve wracking for the blond boy. He had a Calculus test and a presentation coming for one of his other classes. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to meeting with Black at 2pm, but he agreed on helping him, so he couldn’t just cancel it.

Remus arrived at the café at exactly 2:03, assuming Sirius wouldn’t be there yet. To his surprise, Black was not only already there, but he also had his book, notebook and pencil case out. Remus couldn’t help but smile at the scene.

“Hey!” Says Sirius, waving in his direction.

The blond boy begins walking towards the table that the student is occupying. He places his backpack on the floor next to the chair, and takes a seat. Remus notices there are two big cups of tea on the table.

“I didn’t know if you drinked coffee so I got us some tea.”

Sirius explains, as if he read the other boy’s mind. Remus smiles at him sincerely.

“Thank you.”

The study session goes by quicker than Remus thought it would. Sirius was perfectly polite throughout the whole thing, which relieved the other boy. Thinking about people being rude to him gave him all kinds of anxiety.

When Remus was done going through the the 4th chapter of the book, Sirius decided to check his phone and realized it was 4 o’clock.

“Oh crap, I gotta get going.” He said with a concerned expression. “I’m suppose to be looking at apartments with James right now.”

Sirius explained, as if Remus knew what he was talking about. The blond boy nodded anyway.

“Ok, we’re pretty much done. We’ll just keep going on Monday.”

Sirius placed his books in his backpack and smiled.

“Yep, see you Monday!” He said, while walking away.

“Thanks for the tea.” Remus yelled when the other boy was almost out of the shop.

 

* * *

Remus was quite happy with how his afternoon went. Apparently tutoring Sirius could be quite a simple task when the boy cooperated. Sirius even got him tea for God’s sake, and he didn’t know it, but tea was Remus’ favorite drink. And like Lily stated on Monday, it wouldn’t hurt to look at Sirius’ handsome face twice a week.

On his way home, Remus was thinking about how he just wanted to take a hot shower, maybe get some dinner and go straight to bed. So when he opened the front door to his place and found a boy with blond curly hair sitting on his couch and watching his TV, he was a bit disappointed. Although, he couldn’t say he was surprised.

“Hey babe!” Said the intruder.

Remus took a deep breath and considered walking out of his apartment.

“Gilderoy, what are you doing here?”

The boy got up and started to walk towards Remus.

“What do you mean? I’m your boyfriend remember?” He smiled.

Remus rolled his eyes and took a step back.

“ _Ex-_ boyfriend.”

Gilderoy continued to smile and got even closer. Remus could smell his fancy perfume.

“Oh come on. You’re not gonna let one stupid mistake come between us, are you?”

Remus wished the other boy would just disappear. He didn’t want to deal with this right now.

“Stupid mistake?! You cheated on me!” Remus half yelled.

The blond boy could feel a lump starting to form in his throat. He didn’t like to think about the whole thing, it still hurt like hell.

“And I apologized a million times already! Come on love, you know I won’t do it again. We haven’t talked in a month. I miss you.”

Gilderoy took a few steps forward and Remus took a few steps back, resulting in Remus back being pressed against the wall. Gilderoy’s body almost completely pressed against Remus’.

The curly haired boy tried to kiss him a few times, making Remus move his face away from his lips.

“Oh come on, you know you missed me baby.” Gilderoy gave him his prettiest smile.

The trick of  it is, Remus did miss him quite a lot. So, when Gilderoy proceeded to kiss his neck and cheeks and tried to kiss his lips once again, he let him. Remus kissed him back, even though Gilderoy hurt him like hell, he missed having someone hold him like this.

As soon as Remus seemed to be ok with the kisses, Gilderoy pulled out his sweater and then his own shirt. Remus knew he would probably regret this in the morning but right now he wasn’t thinking straight. He just wanted to feel loved and cared for and that’s what Gilderoy had to offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for the kudos on the first chapter!  
> feel free to leave comments telling me if you like the story at all :)


	3. Can't Buy Me Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gilderoy tries everything to get Remus back.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter has mentions of an abusive relationship.

"YOU DID WHAT?”

An angry Lily Evans yelled, making Remus flinch on his couch. He knew this was going to happen.

“It just happened… I came home from tutoring Sirius and he was on my couch. Then he started kissing me and—”

Lily makes a disgusted face and puts her hands up, interrupting the boy.

“Remus you know better than this! Come on man, he’s a cheater!”

Remus’ heart was beating faster than usual. He didn’t like when people yelled at him.

“I know, I know. It was a stupid mistake, I just… I missed having someone, I guess.”

He stated, not much louder than a whisper. Lily must’ve felt bad, because she placed a hand on Remus’ shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you. It’s just… You were so miserable when you were with him, Remus. Even before he cheated, he never treated you very well.”

Now Remus wanted to cry. He was fully aware of the fact that Gilderoy was a shitty boyfriend, and he hated himself for it. He hated himself for allowing someone else to treat him that way. He felt his eyes getting warmer and began to blink faster than usual.

“Just try to stay away from him, ok?”

As soon as his friend finished her sentence his phone buzzed three times in his pocket. He picked it up, thinking he had a pretty good idea of who the sender of the texts was, but he still hoped he was wrong. The boy stared at the phone in his hand and rolled his eyes, making Lily get closer to him and stare at the screen as well.

“Ugh, he’s been texting you?!” Lily asked in an annoyed tone.

Remus nodded with a sad look on his face.

“He’s been texting me since the moment he left the apartment yesterday.”

“Have you been responding?”

She stared at him with accusatory eyes. Remus shrugged his shoulders.

“Not really, I replied once saying that what happened was a mistake and that he should stop texting me, but I guess he thinks we’re still together.”

Lily seemed angry.

“He’s been texting you for almost two days even though you’re not replying?!”

Remus nodded. He wasn’t surprised, he knew Gilderoy could be very persistent when he wanted something.

“Well, just keep ignoring him, ok? He’s bound to leave you alone eventually.”

The blond boy agreed, even though he wasn’t so sure about it. Remus knew he should listen to Lily. She was right, his ex-boyfriend was never very good to him, except maybe on the first week of their relationship. Remus would be lying if he said that the six months that he spent with the guy were full of fun and romance.

All they did was fight. And yes, the sex was good but Gilderoy wanted to control everything about Remus’ life. From the way he dressed to the people he talked to. And that’s not even mentioning how jealous he was of everyone. Remus life _was_ miserable when they were together, but Remus wasn’t brave enough to end the relationship.

When Remus found his ex-boyfriend in bed with someone else, at first he was devastated, then, he locked himself in his room and spent a whole week avoiding human interaction. The boy was scared people would just say the usual ‘I told you so’, since his relationship was very obviously doomed. But, as always, Lily came to his rescue. She helped him finish moving in to his first apartment and kept coming over every other day to check on him. He was very grateful to have her in his life.

 

* * *

Remus decided to spend the rest of his weekend at home studying and working on his homework. He had to cover Marlene’s shift Saturday morning but his Sunday was completely free. Remus was very glad Gilderoy didn’t decide to show up at his apartment again during the weekend, but that didn’t stop him from bombarding his phone with texts and calls. The blond boy successfully ignored all of them.

He felt a bit stupid and guilty about this situation. Why did he have to sleep with Gilderoy?! He managed to keep the guy away for a whole month, now it was all ruined. Even if Remus was feeling like the loneliest boy in the world, he should have known better.

By Monday, Remus was starting to get irritated with the amount of calls he was receiving. When he was walking out of his last class of the day he decided to pick up the phone.

“Gilderoy, _please_ for the love of God. Stop calling and texting me.”

Remus could hear Gilderoy letting out a loud breath on the other end.

“Baby please, let's just talk! Can I meet you right now?”

That was code for ‘Can I come over and shag you?’ and Remus was well aware. He rolled his eyes, even though the other boy couldn’t see it.

“No, I’m about to tutor a student at a café right now. And no, that doesn’t mean you can come over later. Leave. Me. Alone.”

Remus hung up the phone and started to walk faster. He felt his phone start to buzz in his backpack not even five minutes later. He had to fight the urge to just throw the stupid device in the trash.

The café was almost empty when Remus got there, which was always appreciated by the boy. Sirius was nowhere to be seen, but he didn’t really mind it, seeing that he arrived ten minutes ahead of time. Remus walked up to the counter and ordered two cups of camomile tea, mostly because he wanted to relax, but also so he could repay Sirius. By the time the cups were in his hands and he was making his way towards one of the free tables, a familiar face entered the shop.

“Hey Remus.” Sirius smiled at him.

Remus smiled back. The dark haired boy seemed to be in a good mood again, which made Remus relax a little more.

“Thanks for the tea.”

Sirius took a cup from the blond boy’s hand and placed it on the table in front of them.

“No problem.”

The boys were able to cover half a chapter of the Global Education’s book when Remus phone started to buzz insistently again. At first, he hoped it would stop. Gilderoy couldn’t be that annoying and clueless, could he? Remus quickly learned that the answer was yes.

Remus was getting really irritated at the noise coming from his backpack. He opened the front pocket and grabbed the phone, letting a loud breath come out of his nose.

“Excuse me, let me just turn this stupid thing off.”

Sirius didn’t seem bothered at all, to his relief. The boy shot his eyebrows up and grinned at him.

“Girl trouble?”

Remus shut off his phone, put it on the table and placed his gaze on the boy in front of him. He held back a chuckle, it was always funny to him when people assumed he was straight.

“Not quite.”

It must have been noticeable to Sirius that Remus was upset about something. The dark haired boy closed the book Remus was currently using and held it on his lap.

“Hey!” Remus complained.

Sirius rolled his eyes and looked at Remus with curiosity.

“Spill it.”

Remus stared at him with a questioning expression.

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh come on, you’ve been rolling your eyes every time you get a text and you looked like you were about to murder your phone just now. So, spill it, what’s up?”

Before Remus had time to deny that anything was happening, the very last person the boy wanted to see walked through the front door of the coffee shop. Remus eyes got wide and he wanted to disappear. He really didn’t want to deal with this right now, or ever, but especially not in public. Sirius gazed over his shoulder in search of whatever made his tutor look like he had just seeing the devil.

Remus, in a failed attempt of hiding, shrinked in his chair. But that didn’t stop an angry looking Gilderoy from walking in their direction.

“Fuck, fuck, _shit.”_ Remus murmured to himself.

“Remus! Why aren’t you answering your phone? I’ve been patient but enough is enough!”

Gilderoy half yelled, making the people in the café look in their direction. Remus closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“I told you I was on my way to tutor someone, Gilderoy. Can we not do this here? I’ll call you when I’m done, ok?” Remus lied, in an attempt to make his ex-boyfriend go away.

Gilderoy only now seemed to acknowledge Sirius presence, who looked at him with frowned eyebrows and worried eyes. Remus’ heart was beating considerably faster now and his hands was starting to shake. He hated everything about this.

“Remus are you seeing this guy?! Is that why you’re avoiding me?!”

Remus flinched with embarrassment and wished this could just be over already. He got up so he could face the other boy.  

“No! I’m avoiding you because you cheated on me, remember?” He replied, in a passive-aggressive tone.

Gilderoy let out a loud breath through his nose and attempted to hold Remus arm, which made the boy take a step back.

“You’re coming with me so we can solve this!” The curly haired boy stated.

There was a party going on in Remus heart and his stomach was doing backflips. He didn’t like where this was heading. Luckily, Sirius didn’t seem to like it either, the boy got up and placed himself in front of Remus.

“Hey dude, he’s not going anywhere alright? How about you just fuck off and leave him alone?”

Gilderoy let out an ironic laugh and his traveled up and down Sirius’ body, as if measuring him.

“I’m his _boyfriend_. Stay out of this.”

That did not seem to please Sirius’ ears. The dark haired boy took a step towards Gilderoy and he looked like he was about to punch him in the face, which made Remus get very anxious. He couldn't stand this any longer.

“Alright Gilderoy I’ll go outside with you for five minutes. Just… Please stop.”

That made him happy. Gilderoy smiled at Sirius as if saying ‘I told you so’. Sirius was not pleased with Remus’ answer.

“No, no, no. You’re not about to leave with this guy.” He kept himself in between Remus and Gilderoy.

“Sorry Sirius, I’ll be right back.” Was all Remus managed to say, while grabbing Gilderoy’s hand and forcing him out of the building.

His ex-boyfriend seemed very pleased, even though Remus looked like he wanted to rip his head off. As soon as they got outside, the blond boy let go of his hand. Confrontation was his least favorite thing in the world. He felt like he was about to faint, but he just wanted to get it over with.

“Look Gilderoy, it’s over. We’re done. Wednesday was a mistake and I promise you it won’t happen again. Now please, just leave me alone. And give me my spare key back.”

Remus spilled it all out before he could overthink it. Gilderoy went from grinning to looking like he was about to punch someone in the face. The blond boy heard the coffee shop’s front door open and footsteps to his left. He hoped there wasn’t an audience.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this. You know you’re not gonna find anyone better than me. We all know I’m way out of your league!”

Remus could feel his eyes getting warmer. He stared at the floor and couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

“But if you come with me now, we can still be together.” Gilderoy added.

The footsteps Remus heard just a few seconds before were getting closer now. He didn’t want to check, he was too embarrassed to face whoever was watching their fight.

“Dude, he told you to fuck off like a hundred times already! Get your head out of your ass and leave him the fuck alone!”

An angry Sirius Black half yelled and stood in front of Remus once again. Gilderoy laughed, grabbed a pair of keys in his pocket and threw it on the floor.

“Whatever. You’re not worth it anyway.” The curly haired boy said while walking away.

Remus felt that like a punch in the stomach. He quickly cleaned his face so Sirius wouldn’t see the tears and crouched down to pick up his key. He didn’t want Sirius to see him at all actually, he was too embarrassed to face the boy, so he walked in the shop and began to put his school supplies in his bag. Sirius followed him not long after.

“Hey, are you ok?”

The dark haired boy asked softly and placed a hand on Remus shoulder, which made him step away. The boy didn’t want to be touched right now. Remus cleaned his face once again before facing Sirius.

“Yeah, I’m sorry you had to see that. Do you mind if we keep going on Wednesday?”

Sirius looked sad. He seemed like he wanted to say a thousand things but didn’t know how to.

“Of course.”

Remus nodded and continued to put his stuff away. Sirius stared at him for a few seconds, but soon began to place his books in his backpack as well.

“Do you want me to walk you home? Or maybe walk you to a bus stop?”

Sirius was acting as if he didn’t want to leave the other boy alone, but right now all Remus wanted was to be left alone.

“That’s ok, thank you. Bye Sirius.”

He replied while walking towards the door. Sirius followed him.

“Wait.” The boy said. Remus stopped walking. “Um… Just…. Text me if you need anything, alright?”

Remus nodded and walked out of the shop. He could feel the tears running through his face as soon as stepped foot outside. He was shaking like crazy, his heart was still beating faster than it should be and there was a huge lump on his throat.

Remus hated everything that had just happened. He hated the scene Gilderoy caused, he hated that Sirius was being nice to him out of pity, but most of all he hated what his ex-boyfriend said to him. Remus is aware that he’s way out of the guy’s league, he knows that he’s not worth it. That doesn’t make it any less hurtful when someone says it to his face.

When the blond boy got home, he went straight to the bathroom. He got naked and stepped in the shower. He prayed for the hot water to wash all the bad feelings away. When he was done, Remus got under his covers and hoped that the whole world would disappear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's all for today!  
> please comment if you enjoy this at all :)


	4. Help!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus and Sirius have a picnic date. I mean, a picnic study session.

Going to school and work the following day was quite a dreadful task to Remus. He spent most of the night crying, and when the tears finally stopped coming, the boy just stared at the ceiling for God knows how long. He didn’t really understand why this was affecting him so much. Remus knew Gilderoy wasn’t exactly a nice person, it shouldn’t surprise him at all that his ex-boyfriend would say such mean things.

Maybe it had something to do with his father. Five years ago when Remus was only 16 years old, he kissed a boy. He didn’t think much of it, after all, people were much more accepting than they were just a few years prior. So the boy decided to tell his parents. Since they were divorced, he did it in two separate occasions. Remus told his mom when they were having breakfast together on a Sunday, she reacted quite well. The woman told him she was happy as long as he was happy. 

His father was a complete different story. Remus decided to tell him when he was staying over at his house for the weekend. As soon as the words left Remus lips, the man looked like he had seen a ghost. His father scrunched his face and looked at the blond boy as if he was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen. The man called him horrible names and said something that Remus will never forget. 

“You’re no son of mine. You are not worth it.” 

Remus ran from the house and never went back. His father didn’t try to contact him ever again, and the boy didn’t try to approach the man either. It worked well for the both of them. But Remus couldn’t say it didn’t affect him, because it did. After it all happened, the boy wasn’t able to talk about his sexuality with anyone, let alone explore it. He didn’t even know if he  _ was  _ gay, like his father had certainly assumed. For all he knew he could very well like girls too. 

Remus only went back to exploring his sexuality when he left home for college. He dated a couple of guys on his first year, but even then, he didn’t like to have ‘coming out talks’. It made him extremely anxious just to think about it. 

Lily Evans was the first person who made him feel like he could openly talk about the subject. Remus was eternally grateful to have met the girl on his freshman English course. He honestly didn’t know what he would do without her. She was the first person who told him he didn’t have to be anything in particular, he didn’t have to label himself if he didn’t want to. Once Remus heard those words, it was as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. From that moment on, Remus started to think of himself as just Remus and nothing else. 

If the blond boy was to think about the matter a bit longer, he would soon find out that what was hurting him so much about his fight with Gilderoy was the boy’s choice of words. Had he said something different, even if equally cruel, Remus wouldn’t be so hurt. 

 

* * *

At the library, Marlene soon noticed there was something bothering Remus. Probably due to the fact that the boy is usually a ray of sunshine and now he was a cloudy morning at best. 

“What’s up baby boy?” 

She asked in a joking tone, while logging out of her account on the computer. Remus avoided her eyes. 

“Nothing really. I just had a fight with Gilderoy.” 

Marlene made a disgusted face. 

“What? That old rag’s still around? Dump him Remus!” 

“I did, don’t worry it’s all over now.” Remus responded not much louder than a whisper. 

The girl seemed a bit worried. Marlene grabbed her bag and placed it on her shoulder, but before she could start walking away she lightly squeezed Remus’ hand. 

“Call me if you need anything, ok? Or call Lily. Just…  try not to isolate yourself like sometimes you do.” 

Remus nodded. “I will, I promise.” 

She smiled, let go of his hand and walked towards the front door. Remus tried to focus on doing his work for the rest of the afternoon. It went quite well. For the following six hours that the boy was in the library, all his mind worried about was helping people and organizing books. It felt nice not having his self-deprecating thoughts creep up in his mind for a little while. 

When he got home, he tried to continue to distract himself, since it seemed to have worked for his benefit earlier. So he took a shower, made himself some spaghetti and worked on his homework once he was done eating. Remus was sitting on his bed with a book in hand when he heard his phone vibrate on his bedside table. He grabbed the object and read the following message. 

  
  
  


**Sirius Black**

_ Hey Remus, just wondering if you wanna meet at the uni park tomorrow instead of the coffee shop.  _

 

Remus tried to ignore whatever it was that his heart decided to do when he read the name on his phone. The boy couldn't really think of any reasons as to why they shouldn’t meet at the park, so he responded with a simple:  _ sure _ .

 

* * *

The university park was considerably crowded due to the sunny weather they were having that day. Remus searched the park for a familiar head of dark hair, hoping the other boy would be there already. He walked past a fountain with a big lion sculpture in the center of it and proceeded to move near the picnic tables, assuming that’s where his student would be. 

“Remus! Here!” A voice to his left called. 

Remus looked over his shoulder and found a smiling Sirius Black waving in his direction. The dark haired boy was already accommodated at a picnic table. Remus walked in his direction and faked a smile when placing his things on the bench. 

Once their books and notebooks were out and they were ready to start, Sirius reached in his backpack and grabbed a plastic container with a purple lid. The boy lifted the lid revealing some very appetizing chocolate chip cookies inside. 

“My roommate made some yesterday.” Sirius said, lightly pushing the container in Remus direction. “You can have as many as you want.” 

The blond boy reached over and grabbed one. He wasn’t about to refuse something with chocolate chips on it. 

“Thank you.” He replied with a genuine smile. 

Remus noticed that Sirius was being extra nice to him today. He was paying more attention to his explanations and even asking questions about the subject. Remus also felt like the other boy was observing him. Maybe he noticed his tutor wasn’t exactly in a cheerful mood. Remus hoped he wasn’t still taking pity on him like he did on Monday. The blond boy didn’t need anyone being nice to him out of pity. 

“So how are you doing? Did that guy leave you alone?” Sirius asked with a worried expression on his face. 

Remus moved his gaze front the book to the boy in front of him. He swallowed and bit his bottom lip.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude. Things just got pretty heated on Monday and I was wondering if you’re—”

“It’s ok, I understand. But answering your question, yes he did leave me alone.” He replied, looking down at the table.  

It took a few seconds for Remus to find where he had stopped explaining the subject. He turned a page seeming to be looking for an exact spot in the book, but before he could find it, Sirius got up from his bench. 

“How about we just spend the rest of the day….” Sirius seemed to be thinking of something else to do. “Not studying.” He grinned at Remus. 

The blond boy couldn’t help but chuckle at this proposition. 

“Sirius, we already had to finish earlier on Monday. I’m suppose to be helping you improve, you know.” Remus looked up at Sirius, who was now standing next to him on the opposite side of the table. The dark haired boy rolled his eyes but a grin showed up on the corner of his lips. 

“And you’re doing an amazing job, but I can just tell that you need to let your mind relax.” Sirius explained. “I’m pretty sure there’s a short trail somewhere over here.” He pointed to trees behind them. “Do you wanna do that?” 

It was a pretty tempting offer, Remus really liked walking in nature, even if it’s just a park trail. The blond boy looked down at the book, then up at Sirius, who was looking at him with a hopeful grin. 

“Come on, pleeeeease Remus!” Sirius frowned his eyebrows and pouted his lips. 

Remus rolled his eyes and giggled. 

“Alright, sure.” He replied. Sirius smiled openly now. “But, we have to finish this chapter when we come back.” 

Remus tried to use a serious tone. Sirius smile wasn’t as wide now. 

“Ugh, ok sure. You’re the boss.” 

The boys quickly put everything back in their backpacks and headed to the woods behind the picnic tables. Remus was glad he decided to wear his sports shoes today. Sirius had his usual black combat boots on, so he would be fine as well. 

No one said much of anything for most of the walk, but Remus was ok with it. He liked the quiet and the nature sounds all around them. About thirty minutes later, when they were starting to head back to the park, Sirius decided to break the silence. 

“You didn’t really answer my question earlier.” The boy said, looking down at the floor. 

At first, Remus was surprised to hear Sirius’ voice, since they’ve been quiet the whole way there. Remus blinked a few times, then looked slightly down to the boy on his side. 

“What do you mean? I told you he left me alone.” The blond boy said, sounding confused. 

Sirius placed his gaze on him for a few seconds, making Remus’ stomach feel funny. 

“I also asked how are you doing.”

Remus kept his eyes on the ground, avoiding Sirius’ eye contact. For the first time since Monday, Remus didn’t feel extremely anxious when talking about the subject. 

“I’m ok. We were already broken up, he just thought we were back together because we slept together last week.” The blond boy said. 

Sirius looked at him with curiosity. 

“I know, I know. It was a dumb move. I don’t even know what happened. I’m just glad his out of my life for good.” 

Sirius nodded but didn’t say anything. 

“I mean, I don’t even know why we started dating in the first place. He’s definitely not the type of guy I go for. I guess I was just so shocked that someone as handsome as him was interested in me. But he turned out to be just a manipulative, abusive asshole. All I ever did was make excuses for all the shit he would say to me. Gosh, how could I be so dumb? The dude was jealous of Lily for God’s sake.” Remus stopped for a few seconds and took a deep breath. “And all because I said I didn’t know if I only liked guys. I mean, who knows? I might fall in love with a girl in the future. I won’t exclude that possibility just because most of my relationships so far were with guys.” 

Remus stopped walking and looked at Sirius, who until now was just nodding to everything he said. The blond boy then realized how much he had talked. He felt his face getting hot and his heart starting to beat faster than usual. 

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I’ve just been rambling. I shouldn't just dump my problems on people. You probably want me to stop—” 

“Stop, stop, stop.” Sirius interrupted the other boy and stood in front of him in order to get his full attention. “Stop apologizing, ok?”

Remus nodded. His heart was beating faster because of his anxiety and also because of how close he was to Sirius. 

“Do you feel better?” The dark haired boy asked. 

“Yes, actually.” 

Remus replied honestly, making Sirius smile at him. 

“Then we’re all good.” 

Sirius stated as a matter of factly and began to walk once again, making Remus follow him. 

“You can talk to me, you know?” The dark haired boy looked back at Remus, who was a few steps behind. “I’m a very good listener. If you ever feel like you just need to let everything out, I’m your man. Even if you just want me to sit there, listen and not say anything back. James does that all the time.” Sirius chuckled. 

The blond boy was less anxious now. He enjoyed the way Sirius was talking to him. It made him feel like he cared, even though Remus thought he was just being polite. The only other person who makes Remus feel comfortable enough to open up about everything is Lily. So, if Sirius made him feel that way, it was a good sign.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaand cut!   
> please leave a comment if you're enjoying this so far :)  
> i'll be back soon <3
> 
> ps: idk if anyone noticed (or cares lol) but the names of the chapters are beatles songs, so if you want to you can listen to the song that the chapter is named after in order to know what mood we're going for in that chapter.


	5. Here Comes The Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus, Sirius and James hang out.

 

Remus was very glad that he went for a walk with Sirius. He was feeling a lot lighter now, as if all the sadness in his chest just floated away. The boy was starting to actually consider Sirius to be a friend. Besides their first encounter, the dark haired boy had been nothing but nice to Remus.

When they were halfway  through their last chapter of the day, Remus noticed that the heat was starting to bother Sirius. First, he took off his leather jacket which, Remus imagined, didn’t really do much since the boy was also wearing a long sleeve shirt.

“Do you wanna go back to the coffee shop?” The blond boy suggested, once he was done watching Sirius look so uncomfortable.

Sirius stopped taking notes and looked up at Remus, considering his question.

“Why don’t we just go back to my flat? It’s just a couple of blocks away from here.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude…”

Sirius frowned his eyebrows and looked at Remus as if he had just said something very silly.

“Oh don’t be ridiculous. Would you prefer if I just go home and we don’t finish going through the subject?”

Remus really didn’t want that. He already felt too bad about Monday, he can’t keep messing this up.

“Well no…”

“Then it’s settled! Come on, let’s go.”

Sirius smiled openly at the boy in front of him and began to put his things away. Remus couldn’t help but return the smile. He was beginning to like how impulsive Sirius was. It was a big contrast when compared to Remus’ calculated decision making.

The boys walked for about fifteen minutes before arriving at Sirius’ apartment building. Remus realized they lived quite close to each other. He was just on the opposite side of the campus.

As soon as they arrived at the building, Remus noticed that the place was a lot fancier than his own. Sirius’ had an actual lobby with pretty chairs and sofas and a man who worked behind a fancy counter.

“Hey Arthur!”

Sirius’ waived in the man’s direction.

“Good afternoon Mr. Black.” He replied politely.

Remus was mesmerized by everything around him. This was a whole new world for the boy. He’s never been friends with a wealthy person, and his family never had any money. It’s a miracle Remus even got to go to college.

“This is a very pretty building.” Remus said, when they were in the elevator on their way to the 7th floor.

“It is, isn’t it? James’ parents own the apartment that we live in. They insisted that we moved in. I wouldn’t be able to afford it otherwise.”

Sirius replied with a chuckle. Remus noticed that the boy mentioned this James guy quite a lot, but he never really explained who he is.

“And who is James again?” The blond boy looked confused.

Sirius actually laughed at the question. The elevator doors opened and they proceeded to walk towards a large wooden door.

“I’m sorry, I always just assume that everyone that knows me, knows James as well. He’s my brother.”

Sirius’ face lit up when he said the last part.

“Well, we’re not _actually_ related. But you get the idea.”  

Remus nodded at the answer. Whoever this James person is, it’s clear that he’s very important to Sirius.

Once they got in the apartment, Remus was truly overwhelmed with how beautiful everything was. He was sure he could fit at least four of his own apartment in this one.

“Mrs. Potter, that’s James mom, she decorated the whole place. We can’t take credit for anything.”

Sirius chuckled and placed his backpack on the floor next to the couch. Their TV room was amazing, they had two big, very comfy looking couches, a large shelf full of books and the biggest TV Remus had ever seen in his life.

“It’s beautiful.” He said honestly.

Right behind the TV room was an actual dining room, which was home to a Victorian looking table. Remus thought it was the prettiest thing he had ever seen.

“So, do you want to keep studying?” Sirius asked curiously, making Remus stop looking around and focus on the boy in front of him.

“Er, yes. Table or couch?”

Remus pointed in both directions.

“Couch please. I’m done with tables for the day.” Sirius replied. Remus chuckled at the way he sounded. “I’m just going to change my shirt and be right back. I feel like I’m about to drown on my own sweat.”

Remus couldn’t help but laugh.

“I don’t think that’s possible.” The blond boy replied with a grin.

“Technicalities my friend.”

Sirius began to walk towards a corridor, which Remus assumed was where the bedrooms were located. Sirius took off his shirt before he was out of the other boys’ sight. Remus caught himself staring at his back until he got in his room. Then he immediately felt his face getting warmer and turned around.

The boy sat on the couch that was closer to him, got his book out and waited for Sirius. When he came back, wearing a white t-shirt and no boots, Remus caught himself thinking about how Sirius still looked ridiculously hot, even when he seemed to not be trying at all. The blond boy shook those thoughts out of his head and focused on explaining the subject. About thirty minutes later, they were done with everything they were suppose to cover for the today.

“Why don’t you stay for dinner?” Sirius asked casually.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a bother.”

Remus frowned his eyebrows, got up from the couch and began to walk towards his shoes. Sirius followed him.

“You say that a lot, don’t you?” He giggled and stood in front of Remus. “You’re not intruding or bothering anyone. James is gonna love to meet you. I promise.”

Sirius lifted his pinky finger and offered it to Remus, all while looking very serious. The blond boy laughed and rolled his eyes, but intertwined Sirius’ pinky finger with his own. He didn’t let it last very long, because as soon as their fingers touched, Remus felt his heart starting to beat faster than usual.

“Alright, I guess.”

“Great! James will probably be here soon.”  

Remus nodded and took a step back, realizing how close he had been to Sirius just a few seconds prior. No wonder his heart was beating faster, he was all up in the guys’ personal space. That must’ve been it.

“Is it just you and James here?” Remus looked at the floor, avoiding eye contact.

Sirius was back on the couch with his legs up.

“Yep, we’re stuck with each other.” He grinned.

Remus sat on the opposite end of the couch. He could feel Sirius’ eyes on him but pretended not to notice. He also pretended not to notice the funny feeling in his stomach and his cheeks getting warmer.

“So, tell me about yourself Remus Lupin.”  Sirius sat up and got closer to Remus, but not too close. He must’ve noticed the blond boy is not a big fan of unnecessary touching.

Remus smiled and placed his gaze on him.

“What kind of question is that?” He chuckled.

“An important one.” Sirius laughed. “All I know so far is that you took Global Education at some point in your academic career and you work at the library. Tell me more.”

The blond boy didn’t really know what to say.

“Well, let’s see. I’m an Education major, I’ve worked at a—”

“No, no, no.” Sirius interrupted him and moved his head slightly up so they could make eye contact. “That’s not who you are. Those are some facts about your life. Tell me… Er… Your favorite color, your favorite band and your favorite smell in the whole entire planet.”

Remus felt like Sirius’ grey eyes were trying to look directly into his soul. The blond boy knew these questions weren’t that intimate but for some reason he felt very exposed. His face was probably very red right now.

“Alright. Er, my favorite color is purple, my favorite band is definitely The Beatles, and my favorite smell… I think, the smell of pancakes in the morning.”

Sirius gave him the prettiest smile Remus had seen yet.

“What about you?”

Sirius pretended to look confused.

“What? You can’t expect me to answer those questions. I’m have a mysterious guy reputation to keep.” He teased.

Remus laughed and jokingly pushed Sirius’ shoulder.

“Oh come on!”

“Alright, alright… I’m a business major, I’ve worked at—”

“Sirius!”

Remus push his friends’ shoulder again, making him laugh even more.

“Ok, ok, sorry! Let me see… My favorite color, as ironic as it sounds, is black. My favorite band is The Smiths and my favorite smell… Er, I think I gotta go with the smell of the ocean.” Sirius replied, looking down at the couch.

Remus frowned his eyebrows.

“The ocean has a smell?”

“What?! Of course the ocean has a smell Remus!”

Sirius said passionately, making Remus laugh. He was about to tease him, saying that he didn’t think the ocean had a smell but was interrupted by the sound of someone opening the apartment door. Both boys looked over their shoulders and saw a smiling James Potter walk in the door.

“Honey, I’m home!” James half yelled while locking the door.

Remus giggled. Sirius rolled his eyes but had a grin at the corner of his lips.

“James, you have to stop saying that every time you come home!”

“Now why would I do that?”

James laughed and finally looked in their direction. He seemed surprised to see Remus.

“Sirius, you didn’t tell me we have a guest! Hey there.”

James didn’t seem upset at all to have a stranger on his couch. He walked up to where the boys were sitting, making Remus get up in order to greet him properly.

“I’m James.” He stated, offering his right hand.

“Remus.” The blond boy smiled and shook his hand.

James gave him a knowing look.

“Oh you’re the saint who has been helping Sirius pass his class.”

Remus chuckled and looked in his Sirius direction, who just smiled and rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know if I’m a saint but, yes I’ve been tutoring him.”

“Oh believe me, you have to be a saint to put up with this dude.”

James smiled and began to walk towards the kitchen, which was right next to the dining room. For a moment, Remus thought Sirius was going to yell at his friend, but he just laughed and replied loudly so he could be heard from the kitchen.

“I love you too, brother.”

“I know you do.” James yelled.

Remus brought his attention back to Sirius, who seemed to be happy with the arrival of his roomate. The dark haired boy turned on the huge TV and proceeded to put his feet up again.

“So what do you like to watch Remus?”

“Er, anything really.”

He lied. Remus wasn’t about to tell him that his favorite thing to watch on TV were wildlife documentaries. The boy sat back down on the opposite end of the couch. James joined them a few minutes later. They ended up watching some cheesy horror movie that Sirius had picked. Halfway through it, Remus actually started to feel a bit creeped out, resulting in him sitting considerably closer to Sirius.

The three boys ended up ordering pizza at some point in the night. Remus found that James was quite a fun person to have around, and Sirius too. He enjoyed spending his evening with them.

When the movie was over and the pizza was gone. James told them he was going to go take a shower. Remus thought that that was probably his cue to leave so he got up from the couch as well.

“Hey, do you wanna see something cool?” The dark haired boy asked with a grin.

Remus’ stomach decided to do backflips when he looked at Sirius’ smile.

“Sure.”

“Cool. Follow me.”

Sirius got up from the couch and walked towards the corridor. There were two doors. Remus assumed each led to a bedroom. Sirius opened one of them and walked in.

The room was pretty big, as expected. Remus could see a California King bed, a desk right across from it, a big chair next to the desk and a bedside table with a turntable on top of it.

The dark haired boy walked towards his bedside table and crouched down on the floor to look for something under his bed. When he got up he had a very old looking vinyl in his hands. Remus recognized it immediately. It was a copy of Abbey Road by The Beatles. Sirius gave him a proud smile.

“I know that’s the one most people have but I thought you would like to see it. It’s actually from 1969, not those new remastered bulshit they have around today.”

Remus eyes were actually glowing. The blond boy only has Beatles’ CDs. He always wanted to buy the vinyls but he didn’t want the new remastered versions of it they had around. He wanted the old ones. Unfortunately he didn’t have a couple thousands just lying around.

“Oh wow” was all he was able to say. Remus slowly walked towards the other side of the room where Sirius was standing. “Can I touch it?” He asked timidly.

Sirius’ giggled and handed the object to him. Remus grabbed the album carefully, as if it was about to fall apart on his hands. It looked pretty old, but that just made it even better for the boy.

“Do you wanna listen to it?” Sirius asked, noticing the way Remus seemed to be in love with the vinyl.

Remus moved his gaze from the object in his hands and stared at the boy in front of him. Sirius had a grin on the corner of his lips. Remus’ eyes were glowing even more now.

“Yes!”

Remus was so happy he could actually kiss his friend. He couldn’t believe he was about to listen to a copy of Abbey Road from 1969. It was like a dream come true.

“Let’s get to it then.”

Sirius grabbed the album, causing his fingers to touch Remus’ for half a second. The blond boy felt goosebumps up his arms. Sirius placed the vinyl on the turntable and layed down on the bed with his legs hanging from the side. Remus mimicked him.

The two boys listened to the whole album. They talked about which songs they liked the most, which ones were their least favorite, and even discussed about which band member had a better voice. Remus felt completely happy for the first time in a while. He felt like none of his problems really mattered, as long as he was at that exact spot with Sirius.

When they were almost done listening to Her Majesty, the last song of the album, Remus noticed that his friend seemed to be very sleepy. He suddenly felt a wave of guilt hit him for keeping the other boy awake. Remus grabbed the phone from his pocket and was surprise to learn that it was already half past midnight.

“Oh shit, I should get going.”

The blond boy attempted to get up but was interrupted by Sirius’ hand holding his arm. Remus’ heart was beating ridiculously fast.

“Where are you going?”

Sirius’ frowned his eyebrows and let go of the other boy’s arm.

“Er… Home?”

Remus seemed confused. Where else would he be going?

“Why don’t you just stay here? It’s pretty late and it’s kind of dangerous to walk through campus after 10pm.”

Sirius seemed genuinely concerned. Remus knew he was right but he also didn’t want to bother anyone with his presence. Sirius got comfy in bed, while the other boy considered his proposal.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to—”

“You’re not a bother. Just lay down and sleep Remus.” Sirius stated through a yawn. “This bed is so big I won’t even know you’re there.”

The blond boy nodded. “Alright.”

Remus knew it was safer to just stay there for the night. He tried to tell himself that it wasn’t a big deal at all, but his mind kept reminding him that he was in bed with a ridiculously hot guy. Remus then kept reminding his brain that he had no right to feel attracted to Sirius. He was probably straight anyway. And even if he wasn’t, it’s not like Remus would have a chance, but, none of that matters. Remus wasn’t about to ruin his new friendship with silly feelings.

He got under the covers and tried to be as far away from the dark haired boy as possible. Remus didn’t want to be all up in his personal space. He turned his back to his friend and tried to fall asleep. Before he drifted off, he noticed that his pillow smelled very much like Sirius, which made him smile and fall asleep faster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's it for today!  
> please comment if you like this so far!  
> i'll be back soon <3


	6. All Together Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus and Lily hang out with the boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry for the month long wait. my life has been very busy,  
>  but i think i'll be able to go back to updating weekly now.   
> thank you for all the kudos and comments <3  
> enjoy!

When Remus woke up the next morning he was confused. He didn’t understand why his left arm was on top of something warm and soft. His leg was touching something that he couldn’t recognize right away. Also, where was he? 

The blond boy opened his eyes slowly and let the brightness coming from a window behind him, tell him more about this situation. Remus was surprised to find a sleepy Sirius Black very close to his face. He also realized that the soft thing his arm was on top of was actually Sirius’ stomach. Remus’ eyes were wide open now and he tried to move extremely slow.

He didn’t want his friend to wake up and find that Remus was pretty much cuddling him. Remus felt really embarrassed, his face getting warmer with each second. He remembers deciding to stay over, but they were sleeping on a California King bed for Christ’s sake. How did he end up so close to Sirius?  

It didn’t matter now. All that it mattered was that Remus should move away from him, pretend it didn’t happen and never talk about it with Sirius. Sounded like a good plan in his head. The blond boy got up from the bed very carefully and checked the time on his phone. He was relieved to see it was 8:30. Remus’ first class was at 9:20. He should have enough time to get there. 

The kitchen was a bit messy from the previous night. There were two open pizza boxes on the kitchen island and some plates on the sink. Remus, still feeling like he probably shouldn’t have stayed the night, decided to clean up a bit. Once he was done, he began to make coffee. Just to make sure no one in the house thinks he’s too much of a bother. 

While the coffee in being made, the blond boy walks through the corridor looking for a bathroom. He finds it at the end of the hall and decides to get ready for the day. He washes his face and puts some mouthwash in his mouth.

When Remus is satisfied with the way he looks and smells, he walks back in the kitchen and is surprised to see James sitting on a bench near the kitchen island. The boy gives Remus a genuine smile, he looks like he just stepped out of bed. His hair is all over the place and his glasses are a bit too low on the bridge of his nose. Remus holds back a chuckle and walk towards him. 

“Good morning! I figured you would be the one who would be up and not Sirius. He refuses to wake before 9am.” James tells him with a giggle. 

“Did I wake you up? I’m sorry I just have to get going soon and—”

“Oh don’t worry about it, I was already awake. Thanks for making coffee by the way!” 

James smiled and grabbed two mugs from one of the overhead cabinets. He handed one over to Remus, who gladly took it. The blond boy checked his phone once again to make sure he had enough time to drink some coffee. It was 8:45. Remus decided he would leave the house in 10 minutes. 

He filled his and James’ cup and just sat there for a moment. His new friend was talking about a test he was going to have today. Remus enjoyed the other boy’s company. He was very likeable and most of the time he did the biggest amount of the talking, which was always a plus for Remus.  

A few minutes later the blond boy got up and started to move towards his backpack and shoes. 

“I gotta get going. Can you tell Sirius I said thanks for letting me stay over?” Remus asked, putting his shoes on. 

“Of course. You’re welcome anytime, by the way.” James smiled at him. 

 

* * *

Remus’ Thursday was quite a busy one. He had a presentation in one of his classes, which he had been done with since last week, but that didn’t stop the boy from being nervous. Fortunately, all worked well. Then, he had a pop quiz in his calculous class. He wasn’t so sure about that one. He would probably get a B+ if he was lucky. Remus then had a sociology lesson that most people would say was very boring, but he took notes the entire time, just in case. 

When lunchtime arrived, he agreed on meeting Lily at a sandwich shop. It was a healthy place that the redhead just loved. 

“Hey handsome!” 

His friend waved in his direction when he walked in the establishment. Remus smiled at her and walked towards her table. Lily had her hair in a ponytail, which the boy always thought looked very good on her. 

“Hey!” Remus gives her a hug and sits down on the chair directly in front of hers.

His friend hands him one of the menus that were placed in front of her. He notices she seems a bit agitated. 

“How’s your day going Lils?” 

Lily looks up from the menu and gives him a reassuring smile. 

“Oh I’m alright. I just had an Anatomy test and I’m not so sure I did so well.” She frowns her eyebrows and places her gaze on the table. “But, none of that matters! Tell me about your week!” The redhead adds in a more cheerful tone. 

It’s Remus’ turn to look a little bummed. The boy haven’t told Lily about the incident in the coffee shop earlier that week, and he can’t say he’s excited to talk about it, but he knows his friend will end up finding out sooner or later. He decides to just rip off the bandaid. 

Lily looks furious when Remus is done telling the story. Her cheeks are flushed with anger and she looks like she’s about to run out the door, find Gilderoy and rip his head off. Remus squeezes her hand for a second, trying to calm her down. 

“I’m ok now though. It was probably just the universe reminding me that I shouldn't be with him.” Remus says jokingly. 

“I’m still slapping his stupid face if I see him getting anywhere near you again!” 

“Deal.” 

Remus chuckles and a reluctant grin shows up on the corner of the redhead’s lips. 

“And you promise that you’re ok?” 

The blond boy tries to look more serious so his friend will believe him. 

“I promise. Surprisingly, Sirius really helped me yesterday. He’s a very good listener.”  

Lily shoots her eyebrows up and grins. 

“Oh. He’s not Black anymore? Are we on first name basis?” 

Remus face gets warmer. He decides that he won’t mention the fact that he slept over at Sirius’ apartment last night. She will probably get the wrong idea. 

“Lily! We’re just friends!” 

“Well that’s a huge improvement. If I recall correctly, last week you hated his guts.” 

The blond boy rolls his eyes. 

“I never  _ hated  _ him.” 

Lily still has a silly grin on. 

“I see.” 

“Oh whatever.” Remus fights a smile and pushes on her shoulder lightly. 

They spent the next hour catching up on each other’s week and just talking about everything. When they were done with their lunches Remus asked his friend if she would like to go over to his apartment, seeing that they were both done with classes for the day. Lily seemed more than happy to do so. 

They got at Remus’ place and ended up doing what they always do, watching movies and having ice cream. At around 5:30pm, the blond boy got a phone call. He picked up his cell phone from his pocket and looked at the screen. It said “Sirius Black”. 

“Do you want me to pause it?” Lily asks him. 

“Er, yeah, just for a second.” 

Remus lightly taps the green button and brings the phone to his ear. 

“Hello?”

“ _ Hey Remus! What’s up?”  _

“Er, not much. How about you?” 

_ “Not much either. Er, James and I are going to a pub later and we were wondering if you’d like to come.”  _

Remus looks at Lily seating next to him. 

“I’m actually hanging out with a friend, I think we’re just going —”

“ _ Then bring them.”  _ Sirius interrupts him. 

“Well, I’ll talk to her and text you. How about that?” 

“ _ Is she right next to you?”  _

Remus can hear the grin on his voice. Which makes his face get flushed. 

“Well, yes.” 

“ _ Then ask her. I’ll wait.”  _

Remus lets out a loud breath and puts the phone down. He looks at the redhead, who is staring at him with curiosity now. 

“Would you like to go to a pub with Sirius and his friend later?” 

“Yeah, sure.” Lily smiles. 

The blond boy places the cell phone on his ear once again. 

“Alright, we’ll be there.”

“ _ Great! I’ll text you the address. We’ll be there at around 7.”  _

“See you.” 

“ _ Bye Remus.”  _

The blond boy was surprised to get the phone call, but he had to admit he was excited to go out with them. They’re fun to be around, he was sure Lily would enjoy them as well. 

“Where are we going?” 

Lily asks, bringing him back to reality. Remus brings his gaze up from the floor. 

“Er, I don’t know yet. He said he would text me the address.” 

The redhead smiles suggestively. 

“So you two are actually getting close, I see.”

Remus rolls his eyes but smiles. 

“You have to stop that. Besides, he’s probably straight.” 

The thought made Remus sad, but he wasn’t about to say that to the redhead. He was only interested in Sirius’ friendship, nothing more.  

“So you thought about it!” Lily pokes him with her elbow and gets closer to him on the couch.

“No! You’re not allowed to come if you’re gonna behave like this!” 

Lily laughs and moves away from him. 

“Ok, ok I’m sorry I’ll stop. Just friends, got it.” 

The girl fakes an innocent smile that makes Remus chuckle. She then grabs her phone from the back pocket of her jeans and checks the time. 

“What time are we meeting them? And is his friend cool?”  

“I think he said 7. And yeah, I met James yesterday actually. He’s really nice.”

“That’s good. I’m done dealing with stupid boys.” 

She gives him a sad look. Lily doesn’t talk much about her fight with her childhood best friend, but Remus knows it still upsets her. He doesn’t know lots of details, but he does know that the guy was a major jerk to her. 

“Don’t worry. They’re nothing like Snivellus.” 

“Good! Otherwise I’ll have to punch them in the balls.” Lily says with a malevolus smile. 

Remus can’t help but laugh at her. 

“You’ve been very aggressive lately. You’re always saying you want to slap people.” The boy chuckles. 

Lily shrugs her shoulders. 

“What can I say? Some people deserve it.” She giggles. “ But anyway! I’ll stop by my dorm so I can get ready then I’ll meet you back here.” 

“Sounds like a plan.” 

Lily grabs her backpack from a kitchen chair and walks out of the apartment. Remus decides to take a shower and get ready as well. When the boy is done washing himself, he finds that he’s in doubt of what to wear. Should he wear something that makes him look attractive? Like a leather jacket? He decides against it. It’s not like he’s trying to impress anyone, this is just friends hanging out. 

After a few minutes of pondering, Remus picks up a pair of black jeans, white converse shoes and a dark green sweater, because his phone told him it would get a bit cold tonight. The blond boy then goes back to the bathroom and works on his hair. Remus doesn’t particularly cares about the way his hair looks, but for some reason he wants to make it pretty tonight. 

At around 6:30 Sirius sends him a text that says him and James would be going to a pub called Hog’s Head. Remus has heard good things about the place but never actually visited it. 

A few moments after he got the text, Lily knocked on his door. Remus thought his friend looked very cute. She was wearing a light blue pair of jeans, a shirt that said “Feminist” and black boots. The girl was also wearing a shade of lipstick that matched her hair, which looked very good on her. 

The bar wasn’t too far away but it also wasn’t in walking distance from Remus’ apartment, so, they decided to take a bus. The place wasn’t super crowded, probably due to the fact that it wasn’t the weekend yet. Remus began looking for the two boys when they walked in. 

“Remus! Over here!” Sirius’ voice called from across the room. 

They walked towards a circular table near a glass window where the two boys were sitting. Both of them got up to greet the newcomers. 

“Hey guys.” Remus smiled at them. “This is my friend Lily. Lily, this is Sirius and this is James.” 

“Nice to meet you!” Lily said happily. 

“Hi Lily, it’s nice to meet you too.” Sirius replied with a grin. 

James had the biggest smile ever and his gaze was on Lily. He looked like he didn’t know what to say for a second. Sirius elbowed him on his side, bringing him back to reality. He blinked a few times and his cheeks looked flushed. 

“Oh sorry. It’s nice to meet you too Lily.” James’ smile got even bigger. 

Lily chuckled and avoided his eyes. Remus was definitely going to make fun of this moment later. Were they flirting with each other? The boy really hoped so, he would get his revenge for all the times she annoyed him about Sirius. 

The four of them spent the next couple of hours having beer and learning about each others lives. It was pretty obvious that James was enamored with Lily’s presence. The boy couldn’t stop smiling and looking at her, but the redhead didn’t seem to mind one bit. Sirius kept eyeing the two of them, then looking at Remus with a suggestive face that made the blond boy chuckle.  

At around 10pm, Lily decided it was time for her to go back to her dorm because she had early morning classes on the next day. James insisted in driving everyone back, which Remus was very thankful for. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to getting on the bus. 

“You can go upfront.” Sirius told Lily with a grin once they got near James’ black Corolla. 

“Are you sure?” She frowned her eyebrows. 

“Positive.” 

Remus got in the back seat with Sirius, making his heart beat a bit faster than usual, but if questioned the boy would swear that those two events weren’t related. James stopped at the college dorm building first to drop off Lily. 

“Lily.” James said before the girl could get out of the car. 

“Yes.” She smiled. 

“I really hope that you don’t find me annoying because of this but... Could I please have your number?” 

James’ cheeks were visibly red. Remus felt Sirius poking him on the ribs. He looked to the side and saw that the boy had his mouth wide open with a smile and his eyebrows were almost touching the ceiling of the car. Remus had to stop himself from laughing out loud.

“Of course!” 

Lily had the biggest smile Remus had ever seen on her face. Her eyes seemed to be glowing. She waited for James to get his phone then told him her number. 

“Bye guys!” 

“Bye.” The three boys responded at the same time. 

As soon as the redhead was gone Remus and Sirius started laughing. 

“Oh stop it you two!” 

“That was very smooth brother, I’m proud of you.” Sirius teased. 

James just rolled his eyes and started driving again. 

“Remus.” He said after a few minutes. 

“Yes.” 

“Do you think she liked me?” 

James seems actually concerned, which stops Remus from laughing again. 

“Yes James, I think she really liked you.” 

“Oh God, I hope so. She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life!” He stated enthusiastically. 

“Aw! James is in love!” Sirius laughed. 

James shot him a serious look. 

“Oh shut up Sirius, otherwise I’ll start talking about who else is in love in this car!” 

“Aaaaand lets change subjects!” Sirius’ eyes got very wide and he looked scared.

Remus didn’t really understand what they were talking about but it was probably just an inside joke. He didn’t think too much about it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave a comment if you're enjoying this at all!   
> i'll be back soon <3


	7. Ticket To Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius and James throw a party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so i know i suck. i really didn't mean to not update for almost 2 months.   
> i've been on such a terrible writer's block. i swear i've been writing this chapter   
> for at least a month and a half, and i'm usually able to write this many words in  
> like one sitting.   
> anyway, i'm sorry if this chapter is not very good. i honestly tried my best lol.

When the weekend arrived Remus found himself with a pile of college books in front of him and a handful of homework to do. So, when Sirius called him earlier that Friday and asked him if he would like to come over for a party at his house he felt like he had to decline the invitation. 

_ “Oh come on, pleeeease?”  _ Asked his friend from the other end of the call. 

Remus wanted to say yes so badly.

“I have a lot of homework to do Sirius, I really can’t. I’m sorry.” 

Sirius exhaled loudly through his nose.

_ “What if I go over there and help you? Will you be able to come then?”  _

A stubborn smile showed up at the corner of Remus’ lips. 

“I mean, I guess but—”

_ “Great! I’ll be there in 20 and I’ll bring lunch!”  _

Sirius spoke very fast and hung up. The blond boy stared at his phone for a few seconds and couldn’t help but chuckle. What the hell just happened?

After putting down the phone, Remus started to digest the fact that Sirius Black was on his way to his apartment. He suddenly got very nervous and felt the need to organize the place a bit. The boy ran to the kitchen and put a few dishes in the dishwasher, he then went to the living room and grabbed a jacket that had been laying on his couch for a few days. Remus even sprayed air freshener around the house. Not that he was trying to impress Sirius, he obviously was just trying to be a nice host. 

Sirius showed up exactly 25 minutes later with a plastic bag full of Chinese food and a silly grin. Remus tried very hard not to smile. 

“So, what can I help you with?” The dark haired boy asked when they were both sitting on the couch holding bowls of egg rolls and chicken.

“You really don’t have to do anything, I just have—”

“Will you just let me help you?” His friend interrupted him with a serious look on his face. “I mean, it’s the least I can do, you’re literally my tutor.” 

Remus kept his eyes on the food in his hands. 

“Well, I get extra credit for that actually.” 

“Oh. Are you saying you only tutor me because of the extra credit?” Sirius pretended to be hurt. 

“No! I-I just… I was just…”

The blond boy’s face got very warm. His friend chuckled and pushed on his shoulder lightly. 

“I’m joking! Oh my God, you’re so cute.”  

Sirius smiled widely but his cheeks were slightly flushed. Did he just call Remus cute?! The boy avoided his friend’s eyes, his stomach was doing backflips inside him. Were they awkward now? Should Remus apologize? 

“So, tell me what I need to do help you.” 

The black haired boy said, bringing Remus back to reality and dissipating the questions in his head momentarily. He brought his eyes up from his food. 

“I guess you could help me with some research.” 

 

* * *

At around 4pm, Remus was satisfied with the amount of work they managed to get done. He also took pity on Sirius who looked very bored after a few hours of helping him research about the education system in South America. 

“Alright, I think we’re good.” 

Sirius looked up from his laptop with a big smile on his face. 

“Really?!”

Remus rolled his eyes and fought a chuckle. 

“Don’t look too excited.”  

“Oh don’t get me wrong! I loved spending a few hours researching about all those different countries. I’m just a bit more excited about getting back to the apartment for the party.” 

The dark haired boy grinned and Remus felt his heart beat a little faster. 

“Why are you throwing a party anyway?” 

He tried to ask casually. Remus didn’t like being in places with big crowds of people. He hoped he was allowed to bring Lily. 

“Why not?” 

Sirius smiled and ran a hand through his hair.

“I guess you have a point.” Remus shrugged.

“I usually do.” Sirius winked, making the blond boy move his gaze down. 

“So, how many people are suppose to go to this thing?” Remus asked, still avoiding his friend’s eyes. 

“Probably around, like, 20ish.” 

Sirius answered. His attention, once again, on the laptop screen in front of him. He then, frowned his eyebrows and looked up. 

“Do you not like parties?” 

“Er, it’s not that. I just… I don’t really like being surrounded by a lot of people.” 

As soon as the words left Remus’ lips he thought about how silly he must seem. He’s in college, he’s suppose to love parties. 

“I know that probably sounds very stupid, I—”

“It doesn’t.” Sirius closed the laptop on his lap and looked at Remus. “And I really don’t think the place will be super crowded. But how about we make a deal?” 

It was Remus turn to frown. 

“What do you mean?”

His friend held his gaze and looked serious.

“I mean that, If you go. And obviously you don’t have to, but,  _ if  _ you decide to go. If at any moment you feel like there are too many people around, or maybe the whole thing is just a little too much for you, you come find me and we’ll just go outside for a while. How does that sound?” 

Remus looked for traces of humor or irony on Sirius’ face but he found none. Was he really willing to do that? 

“Oh, that’s not necessary Sirius. I can’t ask you to do that.” The blond boy stated sincerely.

“Well, it’s a good thing you didn’t ask then, isn’t it?” Sirius grinned and placed a hand on Remus’ shoulder. “We’re friends Remus. That’s what we do for each other.” 

The blond boy unsuccessfully tried to fight a smile. He started to wonder if this guy in front of him was actually real. 

“Alright, I’m okay with that.”

 

* * *

When Remus was getting changed to go to Sirius’ apartment, he got a call from Lily. His friend told him James had invited her to go to the party as well. Remus felt instant relief. Lily always made him feel better. 

The redhead seemed to be a bit too excited about James’ invitation and Remus couldn’t help but laugh a little at her. She asked for help on what she should wear, and even asked him if he thought James really liked her. As if it wasn’t obvious to everyone in the same room as them that he only had eyes for her. 

Sirius had left Remus’ place a while ago to go get his apartment ready. He told his friend to be there at 8pm and that’s what he planned on doing. Lily came over at around 7:30pm so they could go to the party together. 

They arrived at the boys’ building and the redheaded seemed as mesmerized as Remus was the first time he came here. 

“Wow.” She said, staring at the fancy lobby. 

“Oh yeah. Did I forget to mention James is, like, stupid rich?” 

The blond boy teased, which resulted in Lily pushing on his shoulder a little too hard and holding back a chuckle. 

“Are you here for Mr. James and Mr. Sirius’ party?” Asked a man, whom Remus remembered was called Arthur, from the other side of the lobby counter. 

“Er, yes. I believe we are.” Remus responded. 

Arthur then opened a drawer and got a single piece of paper covered with what Remus identified as names and last names. 

“Can you tell me your names please?” 

“Lily Evans and Remus Lupin.” The redhead took a step forward and stated. 

The man ran his eyes through the page a few times until he seemed to have found what he was looking for. 

“Oh yes. You may go up. The elevator is right over there.” He said with a kind smile while pointing to the left. 

They thanked him and walked towards the silver doors. Lily still seemed hypnotised by the place. While the elevator doors were closing, they could see a group of people who looked their age approaching the lobby. 

“So… you’ve been here before.” 

Lily had a teasing grin on her face. Remus rolled his eyes and stared at her with his eyebrows shot up. 

“Yes, I’ve been here. To tutor him! ‘Cause, you know, I’m his tutor!” He said matter of factly. 

His friend openly laughed now. 

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” 

“ _ Lily!”  _ Remus tried to look angry but couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. 

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop!”

The two of them walked out of the elevator and the music coming from the apartment could be heard from the hallway. On the door there was sheet of paper held in place by a piece of tape, that read: 

**Come in. The music is too loud for us to hear the doorbell.**

**Thanks,**

**JP & SB**

Remus and Lily looked at each other and shrugged. The blond boy took a step forward and opened the door. The music became 100 times louder. The place was dark and there was a disco ball hanging from the center of the living room’s ceiling. He couldn’t help but giggle when he looked at it projecting little squares of light everywhere. Remus noticed the boys pushed back the couches in order to make space for a dance floor. 

They walked in and started to look around for familiar faces. The place was crowded but not crowded enough to make him want to run away. Lily seemed to have found someone she knew and looked at Remus with a smile. 

“Mary McDonald from my English class is here! Do you mind if I go say hello?” 

“Go ahead, I’ll just keep looking around for Sirius.” He responded, loud enough so she could hear him over the music. 

She nodded and walked towards a brunette girl standing not very far from them. Remus decided to go to the kitchen.  _ Might as well get a drink while I’m here,  _ he thought. 

Thankfully the kitchen wasn’t as full of people as the boy expected it to be. There were only two other people in there. One of them was a blonde girl Remus would soon recognize as Marlene and the other one was a boy who had his back to him, but he knew that leather jacket and beautiful dark hair anywhere by now. Marlene saw him first and yelled his name before he could do anything. 

“Hey!” Remus responded. 

Sirius turned around with a surprised face and smiled once he saw his friend standing there.

“Hey Remus!” The dark haired boy squeezed his shoulders lightly for just a second. 

“Hi!” Remus smiled at them. “I didn’t realize you know each other.” He admitted. 

“Oh we just met! Are you friends?” Sirius alternated his eyes between them. 

“Yeah, we work together.” Remus answered.

“I didn’t know you were coming! A girl from my Anatomy class invited me.” Marlene smiled. “And we’ve seen each other before Sirius! You showed up at the library that one time looking for Remus.” 

Sirius looked confused for a few seconds, then shot his eyebrows up and nodded. 

“That  _ was _ you!” The dark haired boy chuckled. 

Remus only then realized how Marlene was standing a little too close to Sirius and kept touching his arm whenever she had the chance. The blond boy suddenly felt the urge to look away. His stomach seemed to be doing backflips inside him. 

“I think I’ll go find Lily.” 

The boy didn’t think he said the words loud enough for them to hear, especially because they were currently talking to each other. But, to his surprise, Sirius turned his face towards him as soon as the words left his lips. 

“Nooo. Don’t go yet!” His friend yelled in order to be heard. 

“Er, okay.” 

Remus yelled back but avoided his eyes. Marlene seemed a bit disappointed to not be talking with Sirius anymore. 

“Do you want something to drink?” 

The dark haired boy asked, taking a step towards the kitchen island where all the drinks currently resided. Remus looked down to Sirius hands, just now noticing the red cup.

“What are you having?” 

Sirius look up and gave him a malicious grin that made the blond boy involuntarily hold his breath.

“You don’t wanna know.” 

Remus tried to hold back a giggle. 

“I see. I bet you’re having a Screwdriver and you’re too ashamed to admit it.” 

His friend frowned his eyebrows and looked genuinely offended.

“A Screwdriver?! Remus Lupin, who do you think I am?” Sirius placed his cup down and proceeded to get a clean one from a pile on the right corner of the island. “I’ll show you what I’m drinking!” 

Marlene took a step forward and joined them again. Remus had completely forgotten she was in the kitchen as well. 

“Oh I wanna see this.” She chuckled and crossed her arms. 

Sirius started by pouring a bit of whisky in the cup, he then grabbed a bottle of tequila a poured a more significant amount. Then, his friend walked up to the fridge and grabbed a beer.

“Are you sure you know what you—”

“Sshhh. Let me work!” The dark haired boy yelled without taking his eyes from the drinks in front of him. 

Sirius poured the tiniest amount of beer in the cup. He shook the cup slightly so it could all mix up together, he then smelled it. The smile on his face seemed to be a sign that he was happy with the result of his drink. Remus made a weird face when he imagined what the drink must taste like. 

His friend, however, wasn’t done with his creation yet. He grabbed a coke can from the middle of the island and filled up the rest of the cup with it. Sirius then turned around and offered the cup to Remus with an evil smile on his face. 

“And that, my friend, is what James and I call a ‘Mischief Managed’.”

Remus took the cup on his hand and held back a giggle. 

“Mischief Managed huh?” 

“Yep. We created it back in high school. I guarantee it doesn’t taste as bad as you think it tastes, and it will get you drunk pretty quickly. Which was our goal back then and everything.” 

The blond boy brought the cup closer to his lips and stared at Sirius suspiciously.

“Alright, I guess I’ll give it a try.” 

He took a sip of the drink very quickly, so he wouldn’t give himself time to give up. The liquid burn his throat on its way down, but Remus had to admit that it didn’t taste that bad. It mostly tasted like coke, although, it left an aftertaste on his tongue that he wasn’t really able to identify. 

“It’s not terrible.” Remus closed his eyes and shook his head slightly, trying to get rid of the burning sensation on his throat. 

“Can I try?” Asked Marlene. 

Once again making Remus realize he wasn’t alone with Sirius in the kitchen. 

“Sure!” 

The blond boy handed the cup over to her, who gladly took a sip of the drink. 

“This is really good Sirius!” The girl yelled with a smile on her face. 

Looking at the two of them and noticing how Marlene was obviously flirting with Sirius, made him take a step back and leave the two of them alone. The thought of Marlene hitting on Sirius made Remus want to punch something, but he really didn’t want to look into it too much or analyze what those feelings might mean. Sirius is his friend, nothing more. Also, probably very straight. 

The blond boy grabbed a beer from the fridge and walked towards the living room. Remus looked around for Lily and quickly found her lip locked with James in one of the corners of the room. Remus laughed quietly to himself. He was glad his friend was having fun. 

He started to walk towards the opposite end of the living room, where the balcony was located, when a hand touched his shoulder. He turned around to face the owner of the hand and saw Sirius. 

“Hey!” The dark haired boy smiled. “Why did you run from me?”

Remus heart began to beat faster. 

“I didn’t! I just thought you guys wanted to be left alone.” He answered honestly. 

Sirius frowned his eyebrows and got very close to Remus ear so he could be heard. 

“I’m not interested!” 

Remus could feel Sirius’ breath on his ear. He got goosebumps all over his body. 

“Marlene is very nice, you know.” The blond boy took a step back in order to look at his friend. 

“I’m not interested.” Sirius stated again with a smile on his face. 

Remus nodded. The music had just changed from something the blond boy wasn’t really familiar with to the song Strangers by Sigrid. Sirius seemed to approve of this change. The dark haired boy grabbed Remus arms and smiled even more widely. 

“I love this song!” 

Sirius then began to dance and sing very carelessly while staring at Remus, who didn’t really know what to do except dance along. The blond boy felt more alive in that moment than he had felt in a very long time. It was like Sirius made it so easy to be happy and worry free. 

“Remus!” 

He heard Lily’s voice coming from behind him. Remus turned his head to face her and saw that James was by her side. 

“Hi!” He greeted the boy. 

James and Lily got closer to Remus and Sirius and the four of them danced like the world was about to end. Lily threw her hands on Remus’ shoulder and they sang very loudly with huge smiles on their faces.

When the song was over, Sirius announced that he was going to get another drink. James decided to follow him. As soon as the blond boy was alone with Lily he gave her a malicious grin. 

“So, you and James seem to be getting along.” 

The redhead’s cheeks were now matching her hair. 

“He’s very nice!” She said leaning closer to his ear.

“I mean, your lips are friends with his lips already so that’s a good sign!” Remus teased her. 

Lily rolled her eyes and smiled. 

“Oh shut up!” 

Remus laughed at her reaction and she joined him. 

“I think I wanna get something to drink to. Do you wanna come with?” His friend asked. 

The blond boy nodded and began to make his way towards the other end of the apartment. Before they even got to the kitchen, something to Remus’ right caught his attention. He felt like someone had just dumped a bucket of cold water on him. He wanted to run away so he didn’t have to look at the scene right in front of him anymore. He felt like his whole body was cold and on fire at the same time. He turned around and continued to walk. He refused to allow himself to think about it. To think about Sirius and Marlene kissing in the corner. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *runs away*   
> sorry about that!   
> please leave a comment if you're enjoying this story at all.   
> i need validation after taking so long to be able to write this lol.   
> i'll (try to) be back soon!


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